VGK Defeat Arizona, 4-1, To Grab First Place In Division Before 18,461 Saturday
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
LVSportsBiz.com photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
The Knights sit atop the Pacific Division alone after beating their desert rivals from Arizona, 4-1, before 18,461 announced fans Saturday night.
VGK forward Mark Stone scored the first two goals for VGK in period one, before linemate Chandler Stephenson scored a power play goal 12 seconds into period two to give the Knights a 3-1 lead.
Paul Stastny scored in the second stanza to give the Knights a 4-1 lead. Stone was dragged down and went to the locker room with less than eight minutes in the game. But he returned.
Here’s Stone and Stastny in postgame interview.
The Golden Knights appeared to play with more energy tonight compared to Friday when the VGK dropped a 4-3 decision to the Ducks in Anaheim. Here’s VGK coach Gerard Gallant’s comments on the intensity level Saturday.
VGK goalie Marc-Andre Fleury also looked sharp, stopping 27 of 28 shots. The Knights are 21-15-6 for 48 points, while Arizona dropped to 21-17-4 for 46 points.
Fleury said the break came at a good point to reboot
Here’s Michael Grabner scoring the Coyotes’ lone goal.
The Vegas Golden Knights are known for attracting out-of-market fans, but Layla and Russ Lowry are VGK fans who attend Knights games from out-of-the-continent.
The Lowrys spend several thousand dollars a year commuting from London, England three times a year to watch the Golden Knights in action at T-Mobile Arena.
Saturday night’s Golden Knights-Arizona Coyotes showdown was the first of Year 3’s trio of treks for the Lowrys to Las Vegas — a 6,000-mile one-way trip for the couple. Layla works as a financial contractor, while Russ works in insurance. The couple has been married 4 1/2 ears.
They plan to stay through New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas for four VGK home games during this sojourn, then return for the Golden Knights gala in February and a few VGK ames then. The third trip will likely be around NHL playoffs time, Layla Evans-Lowry said.
Here’s our LVSportsBiz.com pregame interview with the Lowrys.
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